Latching device



Nov. 30,1948. N, C COMES 2,455,163

LATCHING DEVICE Filed Feb. 9, 1948 I- INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 30, 1948 UNITED STAT .e

erica 2,455,163 LATCHING 'DEVICE .Neiigh clair Coates, Kansas oit-y, Mn..Appiicanonrebmary 9, reis, sentano. '7,262

.11 Claims. (01.-51--27-2.)

saws such as are 'employed in practice 'to cut f bricks, tiles, stonesand :the like to the shapes and sizes needed :for instance in building`construction and furnace building. The cutting is performed by a'disk-like tool rotatingt 'at high speed, the disk'being formed -of anabrasive such as silicon carbide or formed 'of steel alloy which isrimmed with the abrasive. It usually is desirable 'to supply .alubricant to 'the rim of the disk where it engages the work piece, andto this end it `has been customary in the past to jet a liquid lubricant`against the sides 'of the disk so thatthe liquid is vcarri'e'c'l to thevrim by centrifugal force.

In `order 'to shield the 'operator from the lubricant thrown outwardlyyfrom the rim and also to `'protect him from injury due to accidentalphysical 'contactwith `the 'cutter itself, l-it lis the practicetoprovideia guard over Athe upper portion thereof. I have 'found 'it verydesirable also to ,provide on the guard apair-of troughs paralleling theopposite faces of the disk to recover excess liquid and recycle it backonto the disk; in the vevent that the cutter 'disk breaks duringoperation as sometimes happens in practice, the -troughs serve avfurther `purpose of catching flying fragments that might otherwiseinjure `the operator. One of the objects of the present invention is `to:provide animproved form -of ldevice for stripping excess liquid fromthe disk and guarding against laccidental injury Vdue to lbreakage.

In the course of 'normal operation sediment collects -in the "troughs asa result-of cutting the kerfs in the masonry work pieces, and it istherefore Anecessary to -remove fthe troughs from the guard periodically'Ito clean them. Removal of f ythe troughs 'also greatly A`facilitateschanging cutters, for instance 'itc accommodate the `cutter -to the typefof masonry material `being worked upon.

Having in mind the need for frequent removal 'o'f lthese units,another'object of Athe present indivision of application f vent-ion islte provide an improved detachable connection; `and an important featureresides in the particular construction and 4arrangement vof my latchingmechanism. Another feature `'resides in combi-ning the ltwo troughs in a*single runitary structure hereinafter referred to as 'a stripper,

`which vstructure A'is readily attachable `to lauditietachable from 'theguard 4disposed 'over the cutter disk, by means vof my novel llatchingdevice.

A further object is Lto provide a latching -devi'ce for a detachablemember wherein the -latch con- Vtrolling element 4also serves as ahandle by means ofy which the member is lremoved from its support.Another important feature resides in arranging the latch controllingelement for movement between -twoextreme positions, said positions beingsuch that the lelement ca-n `conveniently ybe employed as la handle vtoremove the member 'from its said support only -in one `of them, and saidone position being the unlatching position -of the element while theother is the 'latching position.

Other objects and features vwill lbe apparent in the followingdescription rof the invention.

vIn the kaccompanying drawings which form a part of the specificationand are 'to be read iin conjunction therewith, and in which like'rference-numerals indicatelike parts -'of the various views:

lFig. 1 is aside --elevation of my stripper and its latching device,showing the stripper mounted on the hood or guard Aover an abrasivewheel.

vFig. 2 isa perspective View of the stripper and latching device.

Fig. 3 4"is an enlarged vertical cross-'section taken'alongthe lineIll-1110i Fig. 1 :in the -direc- -tion --of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross-.section taken ralong the llineIV-IV 'of Fig. 1 inithe-direotionof the arrows and Fig isatragmentary'horizontal cross-'section taken -on the line V--V of Fig.4showingthe vbail fin horizontal position as indicated by dotted llinesReferring `more particularly 'to 1, :the vnu.- "meral l0 identifies .a`thin disk .vor cutting wheel made of abrasive material. 'Fixedlymounted A4un a shaft i2 between two hub plates 4lill, fthe wheel isdriven at highvspeed in the .direction Vindicated by arrow I5 by lmeansVof `a `lmotor connected to the shaft. The vdrive Iconnection :is shownand 'described in detail vin my vco-perlding applications `and since Lit'forms no part of the present invenftion, it has been lomitted from the.drawings fpr the sake "of simplicity.

It will be understood that the cutting of bricks, tiles and likearticles is effected by advancing the articles against the lower rim ofthe rotating abrasive disk. For the protection of the operator the upperhalf of the cutter is shrouded with a rigid metal safety hood or guardI8, the opposite sides of the guard being disposed in parallel planesspaced laterally from opposite faces of the disk while the forward edgeis curved to conform with the periphery of the disk.

In operation, a liquid lubricant is introduced continuously onto theopposite sides of the rotating cutter preferably by jetting it againstthe hub plates through a pair of inwardly directed nozzles 20. As it isapplied, centrifugal force carries the lubricant outwardly along the atsides of the cutter to the rm and there it is ung from the wheelsubstantially at a tangent. The liquid leaving the lower or exposedpartof the wheel travels downwardly and rearwardly away Vfrom theoperator while that leaving the upper partis caught by guard `I8 andthus does not reach the operator.

It. can readily be appreciated that the high speed at which the abrasivewheel turns causes it to set up strong currents of air adjacent its`opposite faces and I have found in practice that this air streamsometimes diverts a substantial part of the liquid from the nozzles 20before it reaches the surface of the wheel. To recover ,and make use ofthis lubricant as well as that flung from the rim of the wheel into thehood, a

lstripper 22 is detachably secured to the lower front edge of the hood.

:The shape of the stripper may best be appreciated from Fig. 2. y Aboutits bottom 24 it has an upstanding marginal lip 26 adapted to embraceopposite sides and the end of the hood.

The bottom contains a narrow slot 28 for receiving wheel IU and aroundthis slot there is an upstanding inner lip 30. Thus a trough forcatching liquid is formed on either side of the wheel, the bottom of thetrough inclining downwardly from the rim to the central part of thewheel as shown in Fig. 1 and terminating in a ynotch32 through which alubricant is adapted to drain back against the sides of the clamping.collars I4. It will be noted that the portion of the inner lip which isadjacent the periphery of Athe cutter is beveled as shown at 33 to forma knife edge for stripping the excess lubricant clinging to the marginaledge of the rotating disk; this assures that only the proper amount forgood lubrication is left on the disk.

In addition to recovering and recycling the lubricant against thecutter,` the stripper has another extremely important function; shouldthe abrasive disk break while running at high 'speed as sometimeshappens, the stripper traps fragments that might otherwise be hurledoutwardly from under the hood to injure the operator.

The forward end of my stripper is supported by pins 34 which projectlaterally from opposite sides of the hood into horizontal slots 36 inthe marginal flange or lip 26 The opposite end is supported by the ends38 of a bail 40 which project inwardly through registering holes in the'stripper and hood as long as the bail is positioned as shown in Figs. 1and 4. This, of course, is the normal position of the bail.

Adjacent the respective ends of the bail the sides of the stripper areprovided with downwardly diverging surfaces 42 terminating in laterallyprojecting ears 44. In order to remove the stripper from the hood it isonly necessary to pivot the bail downwardly against the ears as shown inFig. 5 and by dotted lines as shown in Fig. 2, and then draw the bailradially away from the axis of the cutter. Upon the downward rotation ofthe bail the wedging surfaces 42 spread the bail enough to withdraw theends 38 from holes 36 in the hood; this releases the rear end of thestripper and the radial movement of the stripper causes slots 36 toretreat from pins 34 to release the forward end.

Replacement of the stripper on the hood is accomplished with equal ease.Slots 36 are once more introduced over pins 34 and the stripper isadvanced until it occupies its Fig. 1 position. Then the bail is simplyturned upwardly against the hood whereupon due to its own springtension, the ends 38 immediately re-enter holes 36 latching the unit inplace.

The ease and rapidity with which the stripper can be removed andreplaced makes it a simple matter to clean out the sediment tending toaccumulate in the stripper as the. result of the abrasive cutting actioncarried out by the wheel; and frequent cleaning maintains the liquidrecovery and recycling system at maximum eiciency. The disclosedlatching arrangement also greatly facilitates interchanging cutterwheels on the machine.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all the ends and objects hereinbefore set forthtogether with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

Inasmuch as many possible embodiments of the invention may be madewithout departing from the scope thereof it is to be understood that allmatter herein set forth or sh-own in the accompanying drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. In combinati-on with a rotary cuttervdisk having a guard enclosingtheupper portion of the disk, a stripper adaptedv to bridge the spacebetween the disk and the edge of the guard, means for detachablymounting the stripper on the guard, said means comprising a bail pivotedto the stripper, holes in the guard adapted to receive the ends of thebail; and means for withdrawing said ends frorn said holes responsive toa pivotal movement of the bail.

2. A combination as in claim 1 wherein said last means comprisesinclined wedging surfaces on the stripper adjacent the respective endsof the bail.

3. A combination as in claim 1 having stops limiting the pivotalmovement of the bail with respect to the stripper.

4. In combination with a rotary cutter disk having a guard enclosing theupper portion of the disk, and elongatedstripperadapted to bridge thespace between the disk and the edge of the guard, means for detachablymounting the stripper on guard, said means comprising a pin and slotconnection between one end of the stripper and the guard, a bail pivotedto the other end of the stripper, holes in the guard adapted to receivethe ends of the bail, and means for withdrawing said ends from saidholes responsive to a pivotal movement of the bail.

5. A combination asl in claim; 4-wherein said means is adapted towithdraw said ends from said holes only when the bail is substantiallyaligned with the slots of said connection.

6. In combination with a rotary cutter disk; a guard surrounding theupper portion of the disk; the side walls of the guard being spacedlaterally from the sides Vof the disk and the lower edge of the guardbeing substantially radial to the disks aXis of rotation; a cover memberhaving laterally spaced parallel flanges; the distance between theflanges being slightly greater than the distance between the side wallsof the guard; means for removably securing the cover member to the guardso said flanges are -outside the respective walls of the guard, saidmeans including a pair of aligned holes in the opposite flangesregistering with holes in the opposite walls of the guard, a bail havingits ends in said holes, and inclined surfaces adjacent the opposite endsof the bail adapted to spread the bail responsive to a pivotal movementthereof about its ends thereby to withdraw said ends from the holes inthe walls of the guard; said cover member having portions extending fromsaid flanges underneath the lower edge of the guard and inwardly to apoint adjacent the sides of the disk thereby to cover substantially theentire opening on either side of the disk.

7. A combination as in claim 6 including stops for limiting the pivotalmovement of said bail about its ends.

8. In combination with a rotary cutter disk; a guard surrounding theupper portion of the disk; the side walls of the guard being spacedlaterally from the sides of the disk and the lower edge of the guardbeing substantially radial to the disks axis of rotation; a cover memberhaving laterally spaced parallel flanges; the distance between theflanges being slightly greater than the distance between the side wallsof the guard; means for removably securing the cover member to the guardso said flanges are outside the respective walls of the guard, saidmeans including pins projecting laterally from the guard, slots in theilanges slidable over the pins, aligned holes in the opposite flangesthereupon registering with holes in the opposite walls of the guard, abail having its ends in said holes, and inclined surfaces adjacent theopposite ends of the bail adapted to spread the bail responsive to apivotal movement thereof about its ends thereby to withdraw said endsfrom the holes in the walls of the guard; said cover member havingportions extending from said flanges underneath the lower edge of theguard and inwardly to a point adjacent the sides of the disk thereby tocover substantially the entire opening on either side of the disk.

9. A combination as in claim 8 wherein said surfaces are so inclined asto spread the bail when the bail is aligned with said slots.

l0. In combination with a member having aligned holes on opposite sidesthereof, a frame adapted to embrace said opposite sides, a bailpivotally mounted in said frame and having axially aligned endsregistering with the holes, and means for moving the ends of the bailaxially responsive to a pivotal movement of the bail with respect to theframe.

1l. In combination with a member having aligned holes on opposite sidesthereof, a frame adapted to embrace said opposite sides, a bailpivotally mounted in said frame and having axially aligned endsregistering with the holes, and an inclined wedging surface adjacenteach end of the bail for moving the ends axially responsive to rotationof the bail about its ends.

NELIGl-I CLAIR. COATES.

No references cited.

